08 May May…with the Brighton Artist’s Open Houses
Every year during the Brighton Festival in May, masses of Brighton artists open their houses to the public to show their art, sometimes their work studios and often a beautifully curated display of other guest artist’s work. Brighton is heaving with creative talent all year round but May is special; it brings artists together and showcases not only their work but the home in which it is created, a special part of the artist’s world which is usually kept private.
I have been involved with Artist’s Open Houses for over 15 years and first naively opened my own house one Christmas just after my son was 2. There was no social media back then and I didn’t have a blog so it was mostly posters I’d made to advertise locally and try and get people to visit. I can’t even remember what work I was trying to sell and it was a very quiet open house that first Christmas. I joined my local open house group about a year after that, The Fiveways Artists Group, and it was a great learning curve, especially as I was the youngest member by far and didn’t really know what I was doing. I have fond memories of sitting around a table with lots of artists filling addressed envelopes for the ‘mail out’ during my first year of membership and taking my son to lots of private views in his pyjamas. Since then in both May and November I have opened my house and studio many times, always creating new shed installations ( you can see ’The Scented Shed’ post here ) as well as inviting other artists to show their work in my home. A few years ago I instigated and then edited our group’s now annual magazine for 3 years and have also provided this year’s cover image.
The whole of the Artists Open Houses movement in Brighton is very cohesive nowadays; there are brochures, a website, social media ( Instagram and Twitter here ) and local media which give you all the maps and information, including parking and cake options obviously, which you’ll need to plan your personal tour of open houses.
This year I’d decided early that I wouldn’t open my own house as my book deadline was at the end of April, but I was asked by Jehane Boden Spears if I would create one of my shed installations for her open house and show some of my work which I now sell on line. Jehane is an artist and designer as well as a licensing agent and has been part of the Open Houses for about 25 years and this year she has 17 artists showing in her beautiful home including: Iris Del Torre, Debbie George, Atelier Stella, Justine Allison, Sarah Hamilton, Paul Thurby, Eleanor Kolycheva, Cressida Bell, Marion McConaghie, Natalie Pedetti Prack, Ken Eardley, Annabet Wyndham, Jane Walker and Patternistas.
Iris Del Torre’s work above and Patternistas rug below
Jane Walker’s still life prints hang above Cressida Bell’s cushions and Debbie George’s paintings below
Marion McConaghie’s butterfly painting below hangs above jewellery by Annabet Wyndham
Ceramics below ( top and middle shelf ) by Justine Allison, and ( bottom shelf ) by Atelier Stella
Debbie George paintings above and below are Justine Allison’s ceramics and Annabet Wyndham’s jewellery
Scarves above by Cressida Bell and red damask designs below by Jehane Boden Spears
100% silk scarves, jigsaws, coasters, prints and cards by me, which you can also see in my shop here 
Ceramic planters below by Natalie Pedetti Prack and ceramic spoons by Justine Allison
Debbie George paintings above and ceramics below ( top and middle shelf ) by Ken Eardly and ( bottom shelf ) Atelier Stella
I jumped at the chance to create a shed installation as it is my favourite part of putting my own open house together. After some initial thoughts and chats with Jehane about poetry, textiles and the senses, I found my inspiration in Brian Patten’s poem ‘A Blade of Grass’. I wanted the shed to be a multi sensory experience which evoked childhood memories of grass-filled summers, and I also wanted it to be a reminder about how much poetry is contained within the simple, everyday things such as one blade of grass…
Artist’s Open Houses are an absolute gem during the Brighton Festival and are always open during the first 4 weekends of May, usually from 11am – 5pm. It’s a great chance to get to chat to the artists as well as have a nose around the house ( the artist’s are very used to people doing that! ). If you wanted a day out filled with creatives and loads of inspiration I highly recommend it and you can look on the Artist’s Open House website here for all the details of what’s on offer. You can also go straight to @jehane_openhouse instagram account to get more of a feel for it and have a look at my past open houses and updates on this year on my @64sandgate instagram account. I’ve also variously linked all the artists showing at Jehane’s to their websites and Instagram accounts so have a good click through to see more of their amazing work.
I’ll be around at Jehane’s open house this coming weekend so do just drop me an email at 5ftinf@gmail.com if you’re thinking of coming.
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